Design port and optimization of a high-speed SAR ADC comparator from 65nm to 0.11[mu]M

As the world continues to do more and more of its signal processing digitally, there is an ever increasing need for high speed high precision signal processors in consumer applications such as digital photography. Technological progress in CMOS fabrication has allowed chips to be made on nano scale processes, but this still comes at a steep price. Especially in chips for which analog components are a priority over digital components, some of the benefits of using nano scale processes diminish, such as smaller area. In these cases, it is worth investigating whether the same performance can be achieved with larger feature size, and therefore, cheaper processes. To that end, a three-stage comparator circuit for use in a digital camera SAR ADC has been ported from its original 65nm process to a 0.11[mu]m process. Its design has been analyzed and performance presented here. Additionally, an alternative latch-only architecture for the comparator has been designed and analyzed. In 0.11[mu]m the three-stage comparator operates at the same speed, 13% lower RMS noise contributing 0.9 bits difference, and 11% higher power than the original in 65nm. More noteworthy, the 0.11[mu]m latch-only comparator operates at 40% higher speed, equivalent noise, and 72% lower power.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Micheva, Nora Iordanova

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Charles G. Sodini and Doris L.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66446

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/66446